DXB banned medicines - 4 years jail
 

Mods - this ruling affects aircrew worldwide who may find themselves in Dubai one day. Either don't take these medicines with you or get the correct prescription.

Unauthorized Medicines - Ministry of Health and Prevention - UAE

Just how they would cope with an en-route diversion where large numbers of passengers were not expecting to be quizzed about their tablets is anyones guess.

Are you saying that every arriving or transiting pax at Dubai is interviewed about the medicines they may be carrying? That sounds like a recipe for chaos.

Exedrin and Tylenol banned? Why?

That wasn't what I asked.

They have always had that option. It not chaos in the slightest as baggage scans would pick out those with suspicious amounts of anything in their checked luggage and those who have things in their hand baggage, where you would expect prescription medications would be taken to one side at the hand baggage check. You're making it sound like Club Pharma are on every diverted flight every time .

I think you're using the worry beads too much to 'pump up the issue'.

Are they worried that the importing of salty water might de-value their existing salt water resources?

Sounds like the usual ME power trip.

This has been an issue for decades. The list contains some items that are not authorised for possibly political reasons such as saline from Kuwait. Saline from St Albans is fine.

Other drugs such as the antibiotic augmentin wont get you thrown in jail provided you declare it, have only enough for your personal use and provided you have the prescription and the pharmacy label on the box. However, this rule is fairly standard. It certainly applies in the US and New Zealand :eek:

The issue is certain banned substances such as ephedrine found in many cough and cold remedies in europe. This too is banned in Australasia, but they simply take it off you. In the UAE you may be facing a more difficult time especially if you bought it over the counter. Tramadol and codeine are other problems.

Up to them...
 

...to set and enforce the rules they want. There's nothing for anyone else can complain about.

Not an airline professional, just a pax, but I've been traveling the world all my adult life. Earlier this year arriving DXB I had every little thing in my luggage picked through for the better part of an hour, with great attention and suspicion paid to the medical kit I always carry. I travel in remote areas and bring all sorts of emergency meds with me, which did not go over well at all. I had no idea that UAE was so strict about these things, even over the counter stuff. I carry a blood pressure cuff and even that raised a great deal of suspicion, for reasons I can't understand. I was asked whether I smoked and answered no, then they found a cigarette lighter and gave me all sorts of grief over that. My honest explanation that I might use it to light a candle, or a lady's cigarette, was not received well. In the end they let me keep everything, even the prohibited items, but it was a very unpleasant experience that I wouldn't want to repeat. So yeah, watch it with meds or anything even remotely unusual when entering the UAE.

Many years ago a friend passed through Jeddah Airport customs with a packet of Fuggles from Boots the Chemist ( so they must have been a medical item he told them)
The "Religious" police then tap ones ankles with a cane trying to find miniatures in ones socks.
In the same period sugar was not acceptable at Tripoli as they believed it was not for sprinkling on the morning cereals.
Best get advice in advance from trusted locals

The reason is obvious - it is to avoid competition with their local products!
Er, wait a minute, there aren't ANY

I think there's been some misunderstanding about what that page represents. It looks more to me like a list of medical products which have been recalled by the manufacturer or regulator. Note that the action recommended for each is "pull the product" which sounds to me more like retail sales regulation something applicable personal possession. Note also that on of the "unauthorized medications" is the "DePuy Sigma HP FB Tibial Tray Impactor" which is you look it up, you find that it's a set of surgical instruments for reconstructive knee surgery, which ... wait for it ... have been recalled by the US FDA

http://www.mohap.gov.ae/Files/MOH_Se...28-10-2018.pdf

At this link you will find the list of drugs and an explanation of the need for either a suitable prescription or the statement about whether it is permissible at all for each drug in the list.

Having read about people being imprisoned in various bits of the ME for something as innocent as a single poppy seed from a bread roll being found in a pocket of a jacket, I know what my own preferences are regarding travel in these countries, namely I don't go there or go via there to anywhere else.

It's potentially worse than that, the newest rules require declaration of medication prior to flight, with jail threat if it's not done.

How that will be applied to those landing there unexpected due to diversion is... unknown. Relying on common sense and humanity from customs is risky anywhere, but at Dubai? They don't have the best record for conditions in detention, including provision of needed medication, either.

As a pax who needs a dozen pills a day to stay alive, if I got diverted to DXB and there was any option to stay on the plane rather than be taken to a hotel, I'd definitely be doing that - just not worth risking their attitude :(.

Yet another reason to avoid the sandpit!

Sovereignist stance out of place. It's very right to complain when their "rules" are applied to whom travel through their country - and pays for that. And their "rules", as mentioned in other postings here, are arbitrary, inconsistent with international standards, and not explained to travelers and crew when they book or are assigned to a flight there.